I completely bombed an interview with a commercial mortgage brokerage once, the principal literally said to my face that I had no useful skills to his company. I ended up accepting a job with another firm a week later only to have the same principal email me during my first week offering me the position. Then he tried to convince me to leave my current position to join his firm. I think he was desperate, but that was definitely the worst interview I had but I ended up with an offer so I wouldn't get too bummed out about it if I were you, weird things can happen. And you have probably already heard this but the more "no's" you get, the closer you are to a "yes"!

 

I was the interviewer and not interviewing, but my first job out of college was in REPE and our group was pretty small so they had analysts that had been there for a couple of years interview new hires, and probably for only 15-20 mins. So just remember: interviewing to be an analyst at a real estate investment firm. The guy wasn't great overall but when we got to the do you have any questions for me part he asked me how much math would be involved. When I said nothing too complex like you don't need to do multi-variable calc or advanced stuff but you should be able to hold your own in basic business math, some algebra, be quick at numbers and be efficient at excel and the math involved with that he said "I was under the impression there would be no math involved in this job." I didn't know what to say after that. Just silence.

Ding.

 
Controversial
anonguytoibd:

Interviewed with a large multistrat fund and everything went well initially. Sent a research report in, which they loved. Also nailed all of the technicals and brain teasers. Ended up getting a second round with a managing director but was not told a definite date. A day before finals week I was told that they wanted to interview me during the same time as an exam. I told the MD I would let him know if I could get out of it and suggested other times that might fit if I couldn't, which yielded no response. A day later I was given permission to get out of my test after haggling with my professor. I told the managing director about being able to interview at his suggested time and was still not given a response. Waited a few days to follow up, and he finally responded in a six word, chat-abbreviated sentence telling me that they picked another guy in the mean time. The dick head wrote something to the effect of, "Pickd othr prsn, thx for interst."

Wow! What an unbelievably self-centered bitch! That guy should have been beaten with a pipe!

EDT: Why the hell am I being monkey-shitted for this? I'm saying the hiring manager is a self-centered jerk.

Array
 

A friend of mine was interviewing at a hedge fund and was asked what his biggest mistake to date was. I dont remember what he said but it came across as extremely arrogant - and as he was leaving the interviewer asked if this interview wasn't his biggest mistake to date.

 

Second time posting my worst experience: i recently had a final round interview with the ceo of a small data analytics provider. the guy was 15mins late, ok, fine, its an entry level role, youre time is more valuable than mine. he sat down and made a point of conveying that it was his first time looking at my resume. he then, out of the blue, asks me “where would you go if you could go anywhere”. he proceeded to interrupt my answer and said he was unable to proceed with the interview until his secretary could find the initial application i filled out when i first came in. now, bear in mind, this fucking thing took me 15 mins to fill out the first time and all of it was redundant.

, i fill out the form again. he comes back into the room, looks it over and then exclaims “you were a manager at your previous position?!?!?!” as if he had caught me out incorrectly filling in a field. and i correct him, graciously, that i was indicating my supervisor’s title. he then continues looking over the form, and all of a sudden asks me if i realize i am wearing brown shoes with a dark suit. he gave me several other fashion tips and then told me i come across as “spacey”. when i asked if he could describe it better he recommended i google the word ‘spacey’ and see what comes up. i said i think kevin spacey will probably come up. that was about the end of it.

 
Barcadia:

he gave me several other fashion tips and then told me i come across as “spacey”. when i asked if he could describe it better he recommended i google the word ‘spacey’ and see what comes up. i said i think kevin spacey will probably come up. that was about the end of it.

This is pretty fucking hilarious

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 

A year or so ago I had an interview with a sector specific micro boutique in the City (these are very different to US advisory boutiques). Let's just say that the 80s / 90s finance scene was alive and well at this place. I'm going to be so easily identified as I told everyone who would listen about it after but saw the thread and had to create an account to share.

Travel up the night before and realise I didn't bring a shirt so go to HoF (only place open) and pick one up in the right neck size without really thinking. Get up the next day, put it on - it requires fucking cuff links. It's 07:30 and the only place open is Primark and their only cuff links have huge fake diamonds on. Going well so far.

Get there. Walk in after hanging round in the lobby and its a 2 Vs. 1 interview. Emphasis on the Vs. Told to take off tie and cuff links as I look too formal (they're both wearing ties) - he looks at these fake diamond things and just straight up laughs. Questions ranged from what was the genesis of western thought - nicomachean ethics or the republic? How does "the Prince" influence my daily life? I then lost a £5 bet to the lead guy (had to pay up) and bombed a few brainteasers, nailed technicals.

Then it got really weird.

They called in one of the guys below them and tell me to stand up and insult him as best I can. I thought I had bombed it due to brainteasers and was convinced they were just fucking with me. At this point I thought it was best to just go for it.

Then, they asked how much my hotel was because they pay expenses but, "if you got lucky, I'm only paying half". I explain that Tinder didn't serve me well last night and that leads to me, tie-less and cuff-linkless swiping away to show an ageing director how Tinder works in an interview.

Weird day.

 

I had an interview with a MF company as a result of a friend asking if he could pass my resume to his boss as they were looking for someone. The job somewhat interested me, only from a financial prospective though, but I thought why not. The interview was scheduled for the morning after an alumni event I was asked to attend so this is where things started downhill. It was open bar for alumni so of course you have a few, and a few more and then someone buys you one and then another, next thing you know you’ve left the event with a few buddies, you’re drunk and its only 11pm. Could go home now but everything seems like a good idea at the time so just keep drinking. Fast forward to the next morning, wake up with eyes blood shot and looking real rough, running late so take a cab and there’s traffic, great! Get out of the cab and start hustling to get there. Show up about 10min late, slight sweat going and he asks if I had trouble finding the place and instead of coming up with something I simply replied “No”. Get into the interview and start going over the usual type of questions then I get hit with the product question. My friend told me I wouldn’t have to get into product until the second round so figured I wouldn’t waste my time learning them at this stage. I loosely describe one of their funds that I would recommend and he even had to provide the name of the fund. Few more questions and interview ended. Needless to say I did not hear anything back nor did I even waste his or my time following up.

“Be first, be smarter, or cheat!”
 

My first internship "interview" was after I left my resume at a career fair at a Insurance sales booth. They emailed me saying they want to setup a "meet and greet". I was like a sophomore in college so I didn't know that actually meant interview. Pretty sure I showed up in shorts and a polo, it was summer I had class didn't want to be uncomfortable all day after that! Wasn't that interested anyways obviously. Kind of like asking a girl to hang out instead of on a date, she didn't know it was a date, then it's weird...

 

Was given a crap year 2 offer so I didn’t sign it and instead moved to the city my girlfriend lived in. (Yes, we’re still together.) Needed any job until I found a good one so I interviewed with a large property management company for a regional manager position. Things were going great until they asked me what I liked about property management and where I saw myself in a few years. I’m usually so good at bullshitting like that, but for whatever reason I completely drew a blank (needless to say it wasn’t my dream job and I didn’t plan on being there a few months from then, let alone years). There was a nice, awkward pause before I mumbled something ridiculous that was obviously a lie. The interview finished up fine and I thanked them after the fact, but I never heard back from either of the individuals even after they promised they’d let me know either way.

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 
Funniest

I had an MD ask me to answer a complicated math question in the middle of the interview. After running through the math on paper, I gave him my answer. He then asked if I was willing to bet my job offer on my answer. After I said I would never bet something that important on a question I may or may not have gotten right, he said that I came off as too risk adverse which was not good for the job. After quickly going over my math again I said, "Yes, I would bet my job offer on my answer". He said my answer was right but the company could never hire someone who was willing to take such high risks. He then ended the interview.

 
AcquisitionsGuy:

I had an MD ask me to answer a complicated math question in the middle of the interview. After running through the math on paper, I gave him my answer. He then asked if I was willing to bet my job offer on my answer. After I said I would never bet something that important on a question I may or may not have gotten right, he said that I came off as too risk adverse which was not good for the job. After quickly going over my math again I said, "Yes, I would bet my job offer on my answer". He said my answer was right but the company could never hire someone who was willing to take such high risks. He then ended the interview.

what a doofus.

(him, not you)

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 

I think my interviewer was looking for any excuse to kill the interview. His very first comment was how the other applicants were much more qualified than me and mainly came from ivies (I was coming from a very non-target).

His first question was, "How would you have fixed the economic crisis in the 1970's?" I gave three different suggestions. After I offered each suggestion he said, "You're wrong. Try again." Finally after the third time I said, "I'm running out of ideas. What would you have done?" His reply was, "I don't know. There is no right answer." His next question was the question I mentioned earlier. Needless to say, I never got the job which is a great thing b/c I never would have wanted to work for that guy.

 
AcquisitionsGuy:

I had an MD ask me to answer a complicated math question in the middle of the interview. After running through the math on paper, I gave him my answer. He then asked if I was willing to bet my job offer on my answer. After I said I would never bet something that important on a question I may or may not have gotten right, he said that I came off as too risk adverse which was not good for the job. After quickly going over my math again I said, "Yes, I would bet my job offer on my answer". He said my answer was right but the company could never hire someone who was willing to take such high risks. He then ended the interview.

East to play MMQB but I think a good answer might have been to explain that you don't know whether you've done enough to that point to get a job offer but you are 100% confident in your answer. If anything that can be spun as more risk-averse because you have certainty with your answer but not with whether you would have a job offer.

Then again, I work at a hedge fund, not in real estate. It's not our job to not lose money ever; just to be right more often (and/or in greater magnitude) than we are wrong.

 

I've responded to emails calling a person by the wrong name (when it's obviously right there in the original email) and it hasn't been a death sentence. You do always get the "aw nuts, autocorrect" excuse though in email form.

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 

I went on a few interviews in college for jobs I didn't want at all to practice interviewing and one guy was just a douche bag like some of the above mentioned stories so I decided to screw with him. I think it was the third or fourth person interviewing me in the day (and I thought I was only going for a normal ~hour interview so I was already kind of pissed off that I was still there) and he started grilling me in a dickhead way and saying I was wrong when I wasn't so I started answering questions just to fuck with him and see what he'd do. He'd ask a qualitative question, one was one of the typical what's your greatest weakness or something like that and I answered 7. Another was a quant question where the answer should have been a number and I said red. He turned beet red and I thought he was going to jump across the table and hit me. I just walked out after a few minutes and said I had to be somewhere else.

 

I was 1 year out of UG at a decent shop. While at a cousin's birthday party, I struct up a conversation with what turned out to be a senior VP for a respected REPE shop. We ended the conversation with intentions of getting coffee in a few weeks.

2 weeks later, we have coffee and the SVP conveys they have an opening in the acquisitions team that he thought I would be a perfect fit for. The following week I come into their office and interview with 2 associates & 1 VP (round 1, total of 2-3 hours). The interview went really well & I was asked to come in for a 2nd round. The 2nd round consisted of meeting with 2 VP's & 2 SVP's for a total of 3 hours. Things went well again, so they asked for me to come in once again to meet a Principal and to take an excel test. The 3rd round took an additional 3 hours, for an all in total of 8-9 hours of interviewing, with 8 different people.

I did everything right, arrived 5 minutes early to every meeting, wrote thank you letters, and related on a personal level to pretty much everyone I met with. I heard back from my contact, who then stated everyone loved me & he even threw out numbers for the offer & stated that the last thing before they wrote me the offer would be for me to meet with the founder of the firm. I was really nervous for this one, so i took the day off for the interview just to make sure nothing could come up last minute before / after work that would come in the way of getting to their shop on time.

I was on the train commuting home the day before the interview when i get a call. The call was from the founder of the firm and he asked where I was at (which was 40 minutes away from downtown). I told him that the interview was tomorrow, and he asked if I was sure. Simultaneously I check my emails while on the phone with him, and confirm I misread the email. I apologized, but the damage was already done.

TLDR - spent 9 hours interviewing with 8 different people on 3 separate days. Everything went great, last step was to meet the founder of the REPE shop. Ended up standing the guy up. Did not get the job.

 
GentlemanAndScholar:

I was 1 year out of UG at a decent shop. While at a cousin's birthday party, I struct up a conversation with what turned out to be a senior VP for a respected REPE shop. We ended the conversation with intentions of getting coffee in a few weeks.

2 weeks later, we have coffee and the SVP conveys they have an opening in the acquisitions team that he thought I would be a perfect fit for. The following week I come into their office and interview with 2 associates & 1 VP (round 1, total of 2-3 hours). The interview went really well & I was asked to come in for a 2nd round. The 2nd round consisted of meeting with 2 VP's & 2 SVP's for a total of 3 hours. Things went well again, so they asked for me to come in once again to meet a Principal and to take an excel test. The 3rd round took an additional 3 hours, for an all in total of 8-9 hours of interviewing, with 8 different people.

I did everything right, arrived 5 minutes early to every meeting, wrote thank you letters, and related on a personal level to pretty much everyone I met with. I heard back from my contact, who then stated everyone loved me & he even threw out numbers for the offer & stated that the last thing before they wrote me the offer would be for me to meet with the founder of the firm. I was really nervous for this one, so i took the day off for the interview just to make sure nothing could come up last minute before / after work that would come in the way of getting to their shop on time.

I was on the train commuting home the day before the interview when i get a call. The call was from the founder of the firm and he asked where I was at (which was 40 minutes away from downtown). I told him that the interview was tomorrow, and he asked if I was sure. Simultaneously I check my emails while on the phone with him, and confirm I misread the email. I apologized, but the damage was already done.

TLDR - spent 9 hours interviewing with 8 different people on 3 separate days. Everything went great, last step was to meet the founder of the REPE shop. Ended up standing the guy up. Did not get the job.

Oh man, that sucks. Hope something else ended up working out .

 

Ultimately everything fell into place as it should! I ended up taking a different offer (developer /investment manager) across the country in a much better market; have been promoted over the years; met my wife, bought a house; etc. So it all worked out in the end. But it was a life lesson - I recognize that the outcome was ultimately my own fault; even though the mistake was small, I made one that really couldn't be fixed.

Moral of the story is learn from your mistakes, but sometimes things happen for a reason.

 
Best Response

My first PE interview, I had no business being there. I was interviewing with a fund that basically only hired consultants, and the interview format was case study based. I had never done a case study in my entire life up until that point but I figured what the hell, an interview is an interview and I'd be foolish to pass this one up.

The initial email underlined and bolded "You do not need to bring anything with you to the interview" so I didn't bring a folder or pen. I show up and the secretary gives me a case study packet and shows me to a room where I have an hour to complete it and answer some questions. There are already 4 kids in there working on it and it's dead silent, so I couldn't ask them for an extra pen or scratch paper. So I quietly exit the room and scramble for a pen. Couldn't find paper anywhere so I walk around the entire floor and finally find the printer room and take a stack of computer paper before heading back to the room.

At this point I have 45 minutes to do the case study, so I work through it quickly, answer all the questions, but skip the bonus question at the end feeling pretty good about my work. Get called into my first interview to discuss the case and the first thing the guy says to me is "Did you steal that computer paper?" and I was like Yeah took a few sheets because I didn't bring anything with me. He then asks if I completed the bonus question because "everybody else has today" and I tell him I didn't. Strike 1.

We start discussing the case and I bumble through every answer and get maybe 30% of them right. To make matters worse, I made some decimal errors so that all of my math answers are off by a factor of 10. That's what I get for forgetting a pen and not checking my work. I can tell he's getting more and more irritated as he's getting increasingly short with me. At the end, he was like "So was there any information you felt you were missing? What questions would you ask a CEO of the company?" and I respond "Nope thought you guys did a great job, it was pretty comprehensive." So he says "Nothing at all?" and I nod my head. He just stares at me for 5 seconds and finally says "Ok we'll move on." Strike 2

Last part of the interview is a verbal case study. Again, the first case study I did was 30 minutes prior and I bombed it. I can tell the second one will be even worse. We start working through market sizing, products, marginal cost vs. marginal revenue and I have no idea what I'm doing. For some reason I incorporate "fixed costs" into all of my answers because that's all I can remember from Econ 101. At first he gently tells me that fixed costs are irrelevant in this example and to focus more on the variable cost structure and break even points, but for some reason I can't give it up. Every answer I talk about the fixed costs and how they're not truly sunk costs (but they were). He finally cuts me off and says he's going to ask me (very tensely I might add) one final question about whether the company should enter the market based on the current cost structure. I thought I'd lighten the mood and I say "The fixed cost structure?" The guy absolutely loses it and slams his hand down and said "GOD DAMNIT THE FIXED COST STRUCTURE DOESNT FUCKING MATTER!!", gets up from his chair and starts pacing. Strike 3.

We sit in silence for about 15 seconds before I pulled the Billy Madison line "Okay, a simple 'wrong' would've done just fine." Thankfully he laughed at that, and was like "Let's cut the shit, it's painfully clear you're not getting the offer, but you're stuck here for the next 10 minutes so what do you want to talk about?" So for the remaining time we talk about fantasy football and that actually went really well.

"You rarely have time for everything you want in this life, so you need to make choices. And hopefully your choices can come from a deep sense of who you are." - Mister Rogers
 

Summer after high school before I went off to college I interviewed at the local Red Lobster to make some quick cash as a server/host. Spoke with the restaurant manager for 1 hour then took a 2 hour mental math test only to find out after the fact that they didn't want to hire me because I would be leaving for college in a few months and they wanted someone more permanent. All this even though I told her that I would be leaving for college during our initial chat and the dumbass couldn't have just saved us both the heartache

 
pele14:

Summer after high school before I went off to college I interviewed at the local Red Lobster to make some quick cash as a server/host. Spoke with the restaurant manager for 1 hour then took a 2 hour mental math test only to find out after the fact that they didn't want to hire me because I would be leaving for college in a few months and they wanted someone more permanent. All this even though I told her that I would be leaving for college during our initial chat and the dumbass couldn't have just saved us both the heartache

Was that for their new prop trading desk?

 

Had an initial interview w/ HR at a BB. Went in with my fully rehearsed banker spiel and confident, slightly cocky, can-do attitude. Complete. Disaster.

Driving back to work after the interview, I realised that while my approach might have appealed to the right sort of associate or VP, I must have sounded like a complete prick (can I say prick on here?, forgive me I'm new) to HR. Coupled with the fact that I quite blatantly lied on one of the fit questions because I spaced out, I furiously typed- out a damage control e-mail (adding fuel to the fire on hindsight), one hand on the steering wheel. In the end, I never heard back...and I got a fine of c. $300 to boot.

 

Interview 1:

Whilst at university, I had an interview to manage some guys property portfolio, ensuring that the properties weren't sitting vacant and that the tenants paid on time etc.

I turn up and the guy starts asking me what I know about music and why I want to work in the music business. It turns out that he was a producer and was recruiting for an intern, and had mistakenly assumed that I was interested in becoming his intern.

Not an ideal start to the interview, but it just descended into something really weird after that. After telling me what the job involved, he then proceeded to tell me about how famous he was within the music industry and what a big deal he was. He claimed that he was more well known than Simon Cowell, and that he had been judging talent shows long before X factor (or Pop Idol or whatever it is) even existed.

About 45 minutes after the start of the interview, he stopped talking about himself and decided it might be a good idea to ask me some questions. The one that still sticks with me was "What kind of car do you think I drive?" He then went a little cold with me after me guessing a Porsche rather than his Ford Mustang (rare to see in the UK) because "a Porsche really says a lot about a person".

As if this wasn't weird enough, he then told me that one of the other candidates had actually been a property manager previously so he would really have to think about whether I was the best candidate. (i.e. I'm not getting the job.) However, as a favour to me, he was willing to allow me to spend more time with him as he has such a wealth of knowledge and life experience, and a bright guy like me could really benefit from his wisdom.

He then proceeds to compliment my cheap suit, saying "I rarely compliment people's attire, but that it one very sharp suit. It just oozes class". It was at this point that I started to wonder whether I was being groomed.

I did not get the job.

Interview 2:

In an interview for a finance internship at a huge American industrial conglomerate, I was talked at by someone from HR for an hour. I got the job, but I have no idea how, as the whole time I was imagining I was sitting opposite David Brent and holding back laughter. Favourite quotes include, but are not limited to:

"We don't want you to stick to the rule book. We want you to tear the rulebook up......... and then write a new one."

"We don't just want you to think outside the box, we want you to think it 4D...... Not literally."

 

I had my absolute worst interview yesterday. I had applied for this company nearly 6 months ago. I had a short first round interview, but they decided to go with someone else. I applied again this month. Passed the first round with the same people, and ended up lining up a Skype Interview with the 2 founders of the company. They start asking me questions off the resume sheet they have, and can't really understand the resume based on its format. Turns out they had a copy of my old resume, and some how their computer system converted it into some super weird format. So here I am talking about work experience that isn't even on the resume for them, and I can't hand them a paper over the web. ( I made sure to send an updated email to them afterward)

After already having a very rough start, they suddenly decide its time to do a quick math test. They start spitting out random numbers to add, subtract and multiply. Quick math is probably one of my weaker areas, but it was made 10 times worse as I was already on edge from the rough opening. I had to pause and think through some of the problems which made me look stupid.

Luckily the second half of the interview was potentially the come back of the century. They knew I was struggling. They knew that I knew I was struggling.... it was all over everyone's faces. It was an extremely cringe worthy moment. I decided to lay it all out and go full Don Draper at the end. I sent them a follow up email and they actually responded. Hopefully I didn't implode too terribly. I'm really hoping for this role, but the outlook isn't to optimistic at this point

 

Another Fun One- Some how I landed an interview for an emerging markets fund in Estonia.(I'm American) Mind you, the average salary in Estonia is only 12k Euros. Chances are this role wouldn't make 40k USD to begin with. The first round interview had 4 exams. 1 was 20 math questions in 3 minutes, 1 was an advanced excel test, 1 was a complex math/ problem solving exam , and one was a financial knowledge exam. The excel was very difficult and so was the math. The other 2 crushed. If i had gotten to the next round, they would have brought me in to do a 3 hour case study.

 

happened to me once, not in Investment banking though .. the interview was supposed to last one hour .. it lasted 15 mins .. after that the interviewer asked me if I had anymore questions (keep in mind I spent the last 5 mins asking questions) .. I said no .. she stood up, went towards the door, opened it, and waited for me to leave .. without even saying goodbye .. I thought it was over, they called me the next day for another round of interviews .. I still don't get it tbh

 

super day with BB.

Interview number 3 with an MD in the group:

Q1: Why would you never want to work for this bank/group. A1: uhh well I really do want to work here. This is my top choice. Q2: Answer the question. A2: Ok, well maybe because congressman x is trying to pass legislation specifically to break up this bank, which would remove much of what makes this bank what it is. Q3: Based on that response would you say you are unprepared, or just cannot think on your feet? A3: I think I answered that question well, considering I not only gave you a valid reason for why this bank would no longer be as attractive and cited a very relevant and timely piece of legislature that is being considered now. Q4: I disagree, but tell me what you think of the MD you just interviewed with? A4: I think he's great. I've talked to him before today and he has been very helpful in walking me through the career development process. Q5: (scoffs) well your wrong about him, he's actually an asshole He's only in the office 2 days a week and wouldn't be able to hold your hand in the scenario you did make it here. ........

I think you get the picture. The whole interview went like that.

 

Fun update Monkeys! My worst interview just turned into a full time offer working on a commodities trading desk. After 6 months of straight kicks to the face.... over coming a non target background.....low side of 3.0 GPA..... I finally landed a full time offer.

 
rj1443:

Fun update Monkeys! My worst interview just turned into a full time offer working on a commodities trading desk. After 6 months of straight kicks to the face.... over coming a non target background.....low side of 3.0 GPA..... I finally landed a full time offer.

Good shit. Congrats

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 

Last year had an interview for Analyst position within RE at a big firm. Job was more on lending side from what I can remember and CRE advisory l. At the time I was fresh out of school but had an acquisitions internship under my belt. Recruiter reaches out to me for phone interview. Quick fit type and walk through resume. She says how they're really looking for 3 years experience but basically killed the interview with my passion she said so she passed my resume along to hiring manager.

I get email few days later for phone interview now with manager. Well, this was the most awkward interview. She calls me and asks me basic questions and asks me to run through my resume. I'm guessing this was her first time seeing it because she basically ripped me. "She said you have no CRE experience what so ever you only worked with small multi family and our team deals with loans in excess of hundreds of millions of dollars. I have no idea how your resume got to me." Said this with the nastiest tone ever. I basically didn't even know what to say. She pretty much ended the interview after that and didn't even give me a chance to tell her anything else.

The recruiter actually emailed me next day asking me how it went ( now this is not just a staffing firm this was someone within the same company) I told her what happened and such and she apologized.

 

I applied to a corporate finance internship in the fall of my junior year. I was immediately contacted for a phone interview because my cousin who worked there recommended me, and I met with some employees prior to applying.

I get a phone call from a number I am not familiar with while I am leaving the gym with my roommate. It is HR from the company asking if I had "just a moment to talk." I said I did, figuring it would be brief and just a call to set up an actual interview. The lady then conducted a full 45 minute interview while I was walking back to my apartment... through a highly populated time of day... with my roommate walking next to me cracking jokes... I botched what should have been a relatively easy interview.

No offer.

Glad to see I am not the only one with embarrassing interviews.

 

Mine doesn't really come close to any of these stories, but I had a phone interview at a boutique where they had an analyst and senior banker on the call. They talked about the firm for around 20 minutes, then asked me like 2 questions. After I answered they said "you've talked a lot today, do you have any questions for us?" I was thinking wtf.... I barely said anything, but just asked some generic question anyways where they rambled on about the answer for a while. A weird experience as I talked for about 10% of the time.

 

Straight up terrible interviews? Can't think of any.

Awkward interviews? Absolutely.

  1. I interviewed for a Client Services role at an Investment Management firm, and the Senior Vice President interviewing me literally pulls out a crumpled paper from his pocket with interview questions on them and starts reading them off one by one (I thought he was joking).

  2. When I was interviewing for an Internal Wholesaler position (one of my first full time jobs), the National Director of Sales happened to be in the office. He asked that I come in the office and interview with him after speaking with the two Sales Desk Managers. Everything was working in my favor up to that point. I walked into his office, and he stood up from his chair, and I proceeded to shake his hand and sit down across the desk from him. He froze while standing up and said "Don't you know it's common courtesy to sit down only after the other person sits down", and I replied "No, I've never actually heard that before" (LOL). Later on, we keep on talking, and he stops me in the middle of the interview and says "Are you chewing gum right now?", and I said "Yeah I am. I actually was meaning to spit it out before I stepped into the office, but I couldn't find a trash can, and I didn't want to spit it on the sidewalk outside" (Just ridiculous on my part). I thought I bombed that interview completely, but I guess honesty really works because I ended up getting the job, and the National Sales Director actually took a big liking to me (the Sales Managers on the desk would later go on to tell me he was my biggest advocate).

  3. I interviewed for an Investment Analyst role, and the head of Investment Research walks in and we begin the interview. Everything is fine, until about 5 minutes in, when his nose starts bleeding uncontrollably. This guy literally walks out the room, and walks back in with tissues shoved up his nostrils. When he removes them, his nose starts gushing again. Rinse, Repeat. He cycles back in and out of the room about 5-6 times with new tissues shoved up his nose. He apologizes numerous times and says it's the dry air. I think if by "dry air" he meant cocaine, then yes, it was definitely the dry air.

Array
 

I was interviewing the final 3 for a REPE analyst role and didn't get a chance to talk to any of these guys beforehand. One of them tells me his top goal is to break into leasing within the next year. The other tells me he already signed an offer with a RE tax firm right before the first round started. We ended up hiring the guy who thought school was "stupid". I left the firm shortly thereafter.

OP - I've bombed 3 interviews this year so hopefully that makes you feel better.

 

On site interview at a F500 chemicals company (finance division) a few years back. Somehow, hr managed to give the wrong last name to security. Needless to say, they didn't let me through the gate. I was also running a bit late (interview started in about 10 minutes). Ended up calling my roommate and having them look up the hr rep's phone number which I had unfortunately left at home. After about a half an hour, the issue is finally cleared up. I then proceed to pull into the parking lot and walk up to the entrance, only to run into the same issue there as well.

I end up a total of nearly 40 minutes late. I missed the entire first rotation (out of 3) and my second interview basically turns into a lecture about the importance of promptness.

 

had an interview set up, but I'd been traveling non-stop in the days leading up to the interview. didn't even have internet access. I show up and the MD's first questions is "tell me what you know about our firm." I admit that I'd been traveling non-stop for the prior several days so I hadn't had time to fully research the firm, but game him my high-level understanding of his firm, a middle-market i-banking firm, sellside, buyside adivsory, etc. He then says there's no need to discuss anything further and asks me to leave.

Thinking that this is a test to see how I react, I then continue to express my sincere interest in the position, note that I give 110% to my employer, as I had been doing to my current employer over the prior several days, etc, etc. He again asks me to leave.

I later find out that he got fired a few years later.

 
blackcleo:
had an interview set up, but I'd been traveling non-stop in the days leading up to the interview. didn't even have internet access. I show up and the MD's first questions is "tell me what you know about our firm." I admit that I'd been traveling non-stop for the prior several days so I hadn't had time to fully research the firm, but game him my high-level understanding of his firm, a middle-market i-banking firm, sellside, buyside adivsory, etc. He then says there's no need to discuss anything further and asks me to leave.

Thinking that this is a test to see how I react, I then continue to express my sincere interest in the position, note that I give 110% to my employer, as I had been doing to my current employer over the prior several days, etc, etc. He again asks me to leave.

I later find out that he got fired a few years later.

I don't think you had a valid excuse, but man that MD sounds like a total dick.

 

Interviewed last year for a TA gig at a vol arb HF. Had three guys simultaneously interview me. After a few minutes of chit-chat and resume overview one of them sternly asked "how's your mental math" and proceeded to ask me to solve rather complex questions. Sure I expected some quant questions considering the nature of options trading but I was totally caught off guard and bombed that part of the interview... obviously never got an offer. It's a learning opportunity and maybe I was not cut out for that role... it is what it is.

I usually don't get nervous during the actual interview process aside when walking in the building. One of my problems is I tend to over-talk and when I do so I sound like Greenspan: vague. I've heard that the best way to get a job is to make the interviewer talk as much as possible about himself. For some reason that will make the interviewer think you're a smart guy. Thoughts?

 

One of my MBA friends got his internship by literally getting his interviewer to vent how much he hated his job. He barely spoke. Internship paid well so my friend took it. One of the funniest stories I've heard.

 

Had 2 bad experiences for the same BB in the same day.

1) Presentation role-play exercise on a potential merger / acquisition target. We were given a load of financial data which I entirely ignored, had no idea what EV was or EBITDA etc. When I was asked "should we pay a premium for the target" I firmly answered 'no', he asked "are you sure?" and I said "definitely, we should not pay any premium".

2) Second interview that same day, the MD said he'd be giving me 2 brainteasers. I completely messed up the first one, had about 6 incorrect guesses at it and he basically talked me through it in the end. Answered the 2nd one ok, and then I asked for a 3rd to redeem myself so he gave me one.

Needless to say, I got the offer.

 
johndoe89:
realized mid-way though a phone interview in my junior yr that I was interviewing for public finance, not IBD (which is a weird classification based on what BB it is)... I had gone on and on talking about why I had wanted to do banking.

hahha classic, i pulled the same shit. Im on the phone "I really want to do banking blah blah" ...."Hey kid I am in commercial arm of BOA" fraaaaaaaaaaack

once i was talking to a Goldman MD in San Fran over the phone:

him: why did you email your resume to _____ you should have sent it through your career placement office me: i tried to but it couldnt that why i emailed it to him him: smart idea sarcastically me: silence......it was nice talking to you

this was when i was interviewing for the sales S&T position:

him: so tell me who caused the crisis? me: whole speech about how fed fucked it up him: nodding me: also the people who made the CDS knew that the people who were using their houses as ATM him: rage bankers did not cause the CRISIS!!! me: wtf face him: still angry me: changing the subject...ok then

this is superday at BB

him: any questions? me: whole list of questions about how his bank was gonna get fucked because of their toxic balance sheet him: whats with the negative questions (visibly pissed) me: remembering if i had anything else prepared except how this BB was going to refrain from getting raped me: come up w/ usual bs neutral questions

didnt get any offers, i seriously thought i'd get the BB IBD offer and was depressed for 2-3 months when i didnt get back. not in finance anymore, and still thinking if i really want it.

this is my take from the interviews i had- i did em all IB, S&T, PWM, ER

IB: smart but sometimes too douche and dicky S&T: Very smart, tough guys, fast talkers PWM: easy going ER: too nice

I personally like the no BS nature of the S&T guys

 

last year i interviewed for a business analyst position with Loblaws at the head office. I interviewed for some other supply chain management position the day before and the recruiter said i did great and I could have the job if I wanted it but just to test the waters he would set up an interview for me with one of his associates in HR for the BA position. I was stoked... some more money and a little bit more in-line with what I wanted to do...

I get to the interview the next day and I just could feel myself tanking it lol... It was terrible. The lady didnt like my jokes, I was stuttering like a fool and felt the corners of my mouth drying up, worst interview I ever had of all time. I wowed the first recruiter with my knowledge of the company, but this lady wasnt having it at all... safe to say i didnt get that BA offer... the SCM position was still open but I ended up taking a operations analyst gig with the gov...

MB666 it is the best tactic... recruiters/interviewers are like women... get them to talk about themself and you are in

Get it!
 

Consulting during junior year: 2-on-1 mental case interview at an economic consultant. I was nervously picking at a hangnail under the table, and about 10 minutes into the interview I felt blood just start pouring out of my hand. Needless to say, after wiping my bloody hand all over the bottom of the table in an effort to "clean" it,, I gave what was possibly the most awkward handshake ever... spent the rest of the rounds of the superday trying to not get blood all over everything. Wasn't offered any time to use the restroom / get a bandaid or anything, and I was too scared / nervous to ask.

Ridiculous, looking back on it....

 

superday at a BB, I had to interview directly into each group. After having talked to an Associate in HC for over a week and being flown-in to interview with HC exclusively, I find out the morning of the superday that I would be cross-interviewing with sponsors as well. After interviews with analysts from both groups, I was being interviewed by the HC Associate...

HC Associate: So, what do you think of the analysts you've spoken to so far? Me: Oh, I've been really impressed... blah blah blah. HCA: Oh, glad to hear blah blah blah HCA jokingly asks: So, if you had to pick a group between Healthcare and Sponsors, which would you prefer? Me: Well, I think both groups are great opportunities and you work really close together blah blah I think I'd really be happy working at either! HCA: Yeah, but if you had to pick one... Me: ... Me: ...Sponsors.

“Millionaires don't use astrology, billionaires do”
 

During a role-play type thing to see my "communication skills" and how well I can build my network:

Him: Pretend that I'm a potential client you'd like to do business with and you see me in a bar. Approach me and start conversation Me: (Some general introduction between us) So what do you do for a living? Him: I'm an investment manager Me: (Ask some specific question about his stance on the markets) Him: Why would you ask me that? Me: ...(Thinking: Huh?)...I'm sorry. So how long have you been an investment manager? Him: I never told you I was an investment manager. Me: ...(Sitting there very confused)... Him: I'm a carpenter Me: I'm sorry, I thought you said you were an investment manager. My mistake. Him: No, I never said that.

This basically threw off my game enough to cause me to stumble through all of the questions and scenarios I had actually prepared extensively for.

 

Had a few bad ones

One I walked in and the guy ignored me completely, he wrote emails, highlighted things, played on his blackberry. Mind you his colleague came into the interview w/ me (I guess this had happened before). Interview goes on and he then tells me that they want to hire me on a temporary basis to see if they want me before going perm. He asks me what I want an hour, I tell him and he starts screaming at me (literally) asking me why i thought I had the right to ask that, and I was a recent graduate so what experience and skills did I have. Needless to say I turned down the job.

I had another interview that was w/ 5 people all at the same time. 3 around a conference room table and the other 2 on a webcam. It is near impossible to look at people on a webcam while also addressing the 3 at the conference room table. Also impossible b/c they are each looking for a different answer, and you can't really tailor your answers to fit what each interviewer is looking for.

 

IB superday. She asked the standard useless garbage question:

"Whats your biggest weakness?"

-Talk about how I used to have trouble trusting people to do work on teams, but how I addressed it

"Whats another weakness?"

-Another canned weakness-turned-strength story

"So whats another weakness you have?"

-Uhhhh.... my bench press.

No laughs. No offer. I know its a common question, but Ive never had to give 3. Or had an interviewer so persistent about it.

 
marauder:
IB superday. She asked the standard useless garbage question:

"Whats your biggest weakness?"

-Talk about how I used to have trouble trusting people to do work on teams, but how I addressed it

"Whats another weakness?"

-Another canned weakness-turned-strength story

"So whats another weakness you have?"

-Uhhhh.... my bench press.

No laughs. No offer. I know its a common question, but Ive never had to give 3. Or had an interviewer so persistent about it.

As someone who has interviewed and can't stand bullshit answers, she was probably waiting for a "real" answer that didn't sound rehearsed. I have never asked a question three times, but I have said "ok, now tell me an answer you haven't practiced before coming in here." If you sounded very canned and rehearsed throughout the whole thing, like you were just regurgitating a script, I could see myself getting annoyed and asking you a third time, though I personally just head straight to technical questions in those situations where you can't be evasive.

Depending on your delivery, and how aware I was that I was busting balls, I would probably laugh at your answer. I think part of it might have been to see if you cracked under stress (which you kind of did). I myself have been on the receiving end of "how would you solve problem x" where you give an answer, and then the interviewer is like "well how about another way." and that will continue until you come up with the solution they have in their head. Makes me rage and want to punch the questioner in the face, but afterwards I just think about all the guys that probably lost their shit in that series of questions that I came out ahead of.

 

Interviewed w/ IP valuation firm

Her: quantitative questions over my head

Me: general halfass answers, a couple of passive I-don't-quite-knows, and then, I make the "joke", "I feel like Joey Triviani." (Joey from Friends)

The look she gave me made me feel like I was in the job search in the move Stepbrothers. Needless to say, I work in another industry.

 

just relax, smile and show your teeth when you shake hand (seriously). I fucked up once by burping while I was answering a question, don't drink coca cola 10 minutes before an interview...worst interview ever...

Rien à prouver.. neuf quatre
 

At the end of a superday, I had a 2 on 1 interview with 2 Analysts. Toward the end of the interview, one of the Analysts would start to close his eyes and his head would slowly drop toward his chest, then he'd POP his head back up real quick and look around confused. Did that ~4 times before he was out. Guy fell asleep for a little over a minute -- felt like an hour to me. Figured he was getting crushed at work; it was hard not to laugh.

At a school career fair: IBD interviewer: "I think you'd be a better fit for my colleague's group, I'll introduce you." Me: "Ok...?" Interviewer #2: "Nice to meet you. Why do you want to go into underwriting?" Me: "What's underwriting?" Interviewer #2: "Thanks for stopping by our table." [I walk way]

At an on-campus interview: Consulting interviewer: "So, what really gets your wheels spinning?"
[I froze] Me: "I like puzzles." [I kick myself and cringe. (What the fuck was I thinking?) Try to BS the answer but the damage was done.]

 

BB superday. Last interview, feeling pretty worn out from all the verbal jousting.

Him: I am sure you have had to answer this a lot, but try to come up with something new, weakness?

Me: How much sauce to mix with my pasta.

crickets

Made 2nd round, no offer, but I stand by my response. Dude was asking for it.

 

My worst?

Ironicly this actually turned out to be a bonus for me. Before I share this story I will give you some back ground information on myself. I have terrible hearing, I am extremely cocky and arogant. (Bad mix if you are wondering)

I had a interview set up for a MM IBD in my area. Me being the cocky confident semi deaf asshole that I am I do not double check the address or the name of the firm that I had an interview with that day. I go to the wrong place, tell them I am there for my interview, receptionist tells me that I do not have one scheduled. I am pissed that I missed an interview and am sure I fucked up any chance at the other firm. So instead of leaving I demand to speak to a VP. The receptionist is taken aback but calls one of the VPs to come out and tell me to leave. Any way the VP comes out and is pissed that I am taking up his time. I talk to him for a few min, and then he proceeds to take me in for an interview. I do well on that and I ended up meeting the MD a week later and got an offer. The HR rep at the other firm called me later that day and asked me why I missed my interview. I told her that I had a better interview to go to instead, she wasnt too happy.

Disclaimer: I in no way endorse my behavior in any way shape or form.

Follow the shit your fellow monkeys say @shitWSOsays Life is hard, it's even harder when you're stupid - John Wayne
 

during an interview at a top tech company on campus:

i had a really bad cold and stuffy nose etc lol.... so i'm in the interview and my nose starts to run....
what do i do? i say brb i need to blow my nose (there is snot running down it XD) ok so i come back 2 minutes later and then after 10 min or more interviewing it starts to do it again :( so i say fuck this just let it run in hopes he dosent notice LOL

any way it turns out after i called to apologise to him at his work his securaty answers and says he has a cold and didn't come into today

i didn't get an offer :(

 

the partner at delloite wasn't very bright... she disagreed with me when I said the biggest threat to company security will be social media....

she never gave me a buisness card BC i forgot so looked up her first name and company and found her on face book with that i got her last named and figured out there email format and sent her an email of saying how i found her info via social media lol

i got the email if any one watns to see it XD

 
blastoise:
the partner at delloite wasn't very bright... she disagreed with me when I said the biggest threat to company security will be social media....

she never gave me a buisness card BC i forgot so looked up her first name and company and found her on face book with that i got her last named and figured out there email format and sent her an email of saying how i found her info via social media lol

i got the email if any one watns to see it XD

Please send me that.

The answer to your question is 1) network 2) get involved 3) beef up your resume 4) repeat -happypantsmcgee WSO is not your personal search function.
 

I walked over to the interviewer's side of the desk in his office. Still remember him frantically hiding his notes/the look on his face. Got the offer.

At another interview, I was asked about my experiences interning in ER. I proceeded to talk about the healthcare industry and mentioned how much I loved company X. Except company X happened to be an auto parts manufacturer (I got the names mixed-up), and the interviewer called me out on it. I realized that I f'd up one he told me, but I still acted like I was sure that I had it right the first time. Got the offer.

A well-endowed female analyst was interviewing me, and I stared at her breasts for 10 seconds during the interview while she was speaking. Didn't get the offer. :(

 

Getting half the technical questions wrong with an elite IB boutique, despite acting like I was so sure of it. Proceeded to the final round, which I declined anyway.

Interviewer at a HF asking me how to say a certain balance sheet line item in Mandarin. I had indicated I was fluent in it. I said I didn't know, and he chased me out immediately after.

 

In the first year of my European Bachelor program I was considered (through networking) for a jazzy out-of-my-league internship in a leading global auto manufacturer in Shanghai. I had prepared this interview briefly for D-Day and waited for the call that never came.

Three weeks later, at 3a.m. as I lay in my bed after a dude-where's-my car kind of soft bunga bunga frat party with a few friends visiting from out of town, I got a strange phone call and dared to answer. It was an HR from China:

  • Her: do you have a few minutes?
  • Me: [realizing it was 10 a.m.for her and this might be my only chance] Sure!

I walked out into the freezing hallway in my underwear in a half-hushed (didn't want the guests to wake up and make noise) half this-is-my-confidence-baritone voice. She grilled me on their leading brands in China, the differences between the Chinese and US market... I was dead

Moral of the story: 1) Never answer odd numbers when waiting on a recruitment process unless you're rock solid. Let the voice mail take one for the team 2) Dare to say NO YOU BITCH IT'S NOT OK IT'S 3:00 F***ING AM! 3) Know your shit

 

Interviewed for coca cola soph year and had a role play type of thing during the interview. Scenario was that I was part of the sales team for cocaine and had to propose a new sell to a high school. Needless to say, I obviously didnt prep for this prestigious position and told them that coke, sprite, dasani and propel would help students stay hydrated in school.

I did not get the job.. who wouldve know propel was made by pepsi lol

 
  1. this one really isn't my fault, but my interview slot was right after lunch hour. supposedly the chipotle the interviewers ran to had a really long line, so they decided that they would just eat during my interview. those fuckers proceeded to completely ignore my interview, only throwing out new questions when they realized i had stopped talking. they also yawned, stretched, and loudly rolled up their paper bags during the process. of course, they didn't learn shit about me, and rejected me, but when they called to reject me they decided to try and give me 'constructive criticism' saying I should brush up on answering technical questions... those fuckers never asked any. assholes.

  2. i walked into an interview, and when they asked why i wanted to work at that firm, i decided to list a bunch of reasons why i would not want to work at other firms... unfortunately i hadn't done the research and everything i said more or less applied directly to the firm i was interviewing for. needless to say, this interview did not last long.

  3. had an interview with a consulting firm, where we were supposed to give a mock presentation to a couple managers masquerading as clients... for some reason i decided that it would be a good idea to call the clients 'morons'... end of story

 

I see a lot of dumb kids here...

First round interview at a top BB with head of trading desk XYZ. The interview went very well, the guy gave me his card and, since the product was very niche, I offered to do some research on it. A week later, second round goes OK until they ask, "so why do you want to work on desk ABC?" I had no idea what ABC was.

 
  1. I misread the financial sheets on a company (this is my sophomore year) so I stated their revenue in millions, not BILLIONS. It was bad...

  2. My first interview ever, I forgot to fill out the candidate profile sheet to give the interviewer so I had to stop the interview and go to a computer lab to fill it out while she waited for me in the room. So embarrassing. She basically told me to do better next time in the middle of my interviewer.

  3. A SHIT ton of experiences were guys ask me the "why x" question, followed up with "No really, why X? Your resume does not fit at all with this job." (kind of a compliment though because my resume is good enough to land me for interviews in completely different industries)

 

I had a "special" campus interview with a BB. "Special" meaning we were not a target school, but the head of their IB at the time was an alumni, so he took 2 analysts/associates (also alumni) in his group to do interviews for select students at my school.

Sign-up was easy, the Dean of the bschool sent an email to all the pre-qualified students and said if we had an interest to email him and he would assign us a slot. They were only taking 6 students for interviews (30 minute interviews), from 9am until 12pm. So I emailed. Got a confirmation saying I got a spot and that they'll send me a time slot for Saturday later in the week (it was Monday at the time).

Fast forward to Thursday - no response. I email the Dean's secretary to see whats up. Still no response. Friday I email her again, and she responds by saying that she completely forgot about me and accidentally gave my spot away. So to make up she created a new time slot, at 12pm.

I didn't think much of it, I was just pumped to have an interview, until the day of the interview. Shit went downhill fast.

I arrive at 11:45 and sit outside the Dean's office. 12:10 rolls around through and the 2 alumni analysts/associates come up to meet the head of the IB group and the Dean to grab lunch. When the head if the IB group comes out and sees me, he looked confused. I showed him my email confirming my time slot, and I he looks over at the 2 analyst alums, and they start heading back to their interview room. That's when I realized when I was fucked.

The next 10 minutes were the most painful. Question after question fire blast. Very disengaged, checking his watch every 2-3 minutes. I remember walking out of that interview thinking "What ... the... fuck.."

I pretty much left that interview around 12:35 and went straight to a bar in my business formal attire.

Hugo
 
Waymon3x6:
HopelessIntern:

With that said, I knew I had no shot from the start.

No, this is why you had no shot from the start. He was basically asking you to prove him wrong.

Either way, sounds like your interviewer is used to being a douche-kabob with impunity. Wonder what he does for an encore.
"Now go get your f'n shinebox!"
 

Agreed show some confidence in yourself.....start by changing your profile name....

Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 Command them to do good, to be rich in g
 

Agreed show some confidence in yourself.....start by changing your profile name....

Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 Command them to do good, to be rich in g
 
CPAExtraordinaire:

this is not the worst. I once had a friend who let out a 26 second fart midway through the interview. He actually paused mid sentence for the fart before continuing.

I really hope this is a joke. If not, what on earth did he do after that? I probably would have just gotten up and left. No chance I could keep going after that

 
CPAExtraordinaire:

this is not the worst. I once had a friend who let out a 26 second fart midway through the interview. He actually paused mid sentence for the fart before continuing.

26 is quite the exact measurement. I would think 30 seconds would be a rather solid, rounded increment of time in a story that reeks of potential bullshit (pun intended).
"Decide what to be and go be it." - The Avett Brothers
 

Got a "So you have...no experience. How did you get past the screeners?" after he looked at my resume. Apparently it was the first time he did so. Interview went well after that though.

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 
CRE:

Got a "So you have...no experience. How did you get past the screeners?" after he looked at my resume. Apparently it was the first time he did so. Interview went well after that though.

Pretty good stuff! What'd you say back to him? Or did you laugh it off.

 

My best friend is an engineer. During their interviews, he had already accepted a position with another firm in Houston, but was interviewing for a huge firm in New Orleans (not too hard to figure out which one I'm talking about if you know where engineering firms are located). He literally went to NO because they were paying for his accommodations, and had zero interest in working there. During the interview, they talked about the hard work and dedication their engineers had in their first few years on the job, but that their salary was top tier within US eng. firms. He looked at the interviewer and said, "So you're telling me that to be successful here I have to sell my soul to this company, but I get to sell it at a really high price?" The interview didn't last very long after that. I always thought he was full of shit with that story until I was best man at his wedding last year. The guy that we knew from college who got him in the door for the interview corroborated the story. Apparently he got an earful from everyone involved in the interview, but left the company for a better position a few years later. He wasn't happy with my buddy at first, but they are cool about it now, a decade later. I would've loved to be a fly on the wall for that long pause from the interview panel.

"Decide what to be and go be it." - The Avett Brothers
 
wareagle4230:

My best friend is an engineer. During their interviews, he had already accepted a position with another firm in Houston, but was interviewing for a huge firm in New Orleans (not too hard to figure out which one I'm talking about if you know where engineering firms are located). He literally went to NO because they were paying for his accommodations, and had zero interest in working there. During the interview, they talked about the hard work and dedication their engineers had in their first few years on the job, but that their salary was top tier within US eng. firms. He looked at the interviewer and said, "So you're telling me that to be successful here I have to sell my soul to this company, but I get to sell it at a really high price?" The interview didn't last very long after that. I always thought he was full of shit with that story until I was best man at his wedding last year. The guy that we knew from college who got him in the door for the interview corroborated the story. Apparently he got an earful from everyone involved in the interview, but left the company for a better position a few years later. He wasn't happy with my buddy at first, but they are cool about it now, a decade later. I would've loved to be a fly on the wall for that long pause from the interview panel.

Definitely one of the better stories I've heard! That takes balls.

 

Not really an interview, but here goes: I had a firm ask me to do an initiation report for an ER position. I had a month to do it because it was assigned right before finals. Halfway through the month, the hiring manager quit her job. That was bad enough, but what made it worse was that she didn't tell me about it until the day before the project was due, and I'd spent close to 60 or 70 hours working in the thing!

"There's nothing you can do if you're too scared to try." - Nickel Creek
 

On the upside, it was sort of a "Welcome to Wall Street" lesson, where you'll work on something for far longer than 60-70 hours for it to never be used....difference is, you weren't getting paid.

You should save down that ER report, cold call/network your way into other banks and then once you've built a good enough relationship with a contact get the ER report into their hands.

 

I had cold emailed an alumni about a summer internship position, and then after talking to him on the phone, and email for a little bit he had me come in for an interview... after talking to three separate people that all liked me, I felt like the position is mine... then right at the end, "So you know that this position is unpaid right?" uhhhhhh no. not at all. Complete waste of a day.

make it hard to spot the general by working like a soldier
 
Skinnayyy:

I had cold emailed an alumni about a summer internship position, and then after talking to him on the phone, and email for a little bit he had me come in for an interview... after talking to three separate people that all liked me, I felt like the position is mine... then right at the end, "So you know that this position is unpaid right?" uhhhhhh no. not at all. Complete waste of a day.

Haha how'd you take it from there? What'd you say?

 

Summer Analyst first round interview went ok with me for Morgan Stanley until they brought in one of their exotics guys who gave me the question of "If I gave you a call option on the difference of returns of a stock X over stock Y (e.g. stock X returns 10% Y returns 4% you earn 6% of notional), how is the price of the option based on the volatility of the two stocks and can you draw the graph of the value of the option as the correlation shifts from -1 to 1. I figured out that value would be zero at 1 and would maximize at -1, but couldn't go further from there. I panicked and badly botched up the interview, with awkward silence as I sat there hoping he'd give me a push in the direction until finally he ended the interview. Meanwhile 90% of the other interviewees at my school only got simple markets/behavioral question.

Incoming Spring Discovery Day Participant at J.P. Morgan Stanley
 

I had a DCM interview one time when I was an idiot and they asked me why I wanted to do DCM. I basically just shit on IBD and talked about how I like markets and stuff. They told me I should be a trader and that what they do is a lot like IBD and the interview basically ended there.

Also I had EY BAP one time and the first question was why am I interested in BAP and I had literally no idea what they actually did in BAP. Another one was an interview for Operations at SIG. She asked why I was interested in operations and I basically said I want to be a trader. Very awkward. Miraculous that I got BB S&T considering my interview track record prior to that.

edit: I just remembered that for the EY BAP one I literally asked her what BAP is and what they do. Obviously did not get a superday. Live and learn I guess.

 
Anonymoose:

I had a DCM interview one time when I was an idiot and they asked me why I wanted to do DCM. I basically just shit on IBD and talked about how I like markets and stuff. They told me I should be a trader and that what they do is a lot like IBD and the interview basically ended there.

Also I had EY BAP one time and the first question was why am I interested in BAP and I had literally no idea what they actually did in BAP. Another one was an interview for Operations at SIG. She asked why I was interested in operations and I basically said I want to be a trader. Very awkward. Miraculous that I got BB S&T considering my interview track record prior to that.

edit: I just remembered that for the EY BAP one I literally asked her what BAP is and what they do. Obviously did not get a superday. Live and learn I guess.

Haha. I had a similar experience. I had no clue, but figured it might be similar to consulting, so I talked about that. Ding :D

 

MD: So what do you do in your free time? Me: I just like to hang out with my friends, I also like to listen to music MD: Oh really, do you play an instrument? Me: No, I just like music MD: What kind? Me: Well I really like house music MD: How did you get into that? Me: I went to a bunch of concerts when I was studying abroad in X foreign country MD: Don’t people do tons of drugs at those things? Me: Umm…not sure. I don’t

Did not get the offer. lol

 

I was late to an interview and in a panic, so I managed to rip the button off of the trousers of my (only) suit. I had to use the strategic application of my belt to avoid them noticing. Turned out not to be a big deal though, because the interviewer was an alumnus and let me know before we began the interview that the firm was undergoing restructuring and the division I was applying for would probably be downsized rather than expanded with new hires. Great way to start an interview.

 

oh man, happened to me while I was in college. Got flown out for an interview with Vanguard. After I arrived at the hotel and was preparing for interview tomorrow morning, I notice I forgot my dress pants.....I'm like oh fuck....was gonna go in my black jeans for a sec...

Then asked front lobby if they happened to have some. The guy said one guy forgot his....but he can't lend them to me. At that point I was about to offer the guy $100 for his pants he was wearing at the time rofl...

But he said there is a walmart 2 miles away..so i ran there and bought some cheap dress pants, to savemyself from looking like a complete idiot on interview day with all the other canddiates.

 

Somehow entered the wrong address in my GPS on the way to the interview. Parked my car in a garage nearby and prepped for a few minutes as I made sure to leave plenty of time. As i'm walking out of the garage and look up the address, I realize the office isn't downtown like i'd thought (its actually slightly outside the city at a corporate center) Ended up sprinting back to my car, flying down the road to the interview and making it only a few minutes late. Ended up getting the job, but it was damn stressful going from completely calm and ready to rock the interview to nervous as hell when I realized i'm going to be late

Array
 

superday at a boutique investment bank in NYC known for its restructuring practice: First interviewer grills me on what I know about restructuring. I don't know very much - I did 3 prior M&A internships where I was responsible for identifying acquisition targets. After that first interview I knew I wasn't getting the job, so I kind of goofed off the rest of the day - cracked some jokes, talked about some quirky interests, etc. Mainly embarrassing, because the first guy pretty much told the rest of my interviewers that I didn't know anything about restructuring, and they would make jabs at me the moment I walked into the room :(

Currently: future neurologist, current psychotherapist Previously: investor relations (top consulting firm), M&A consulting (Big 4), M&A banking (MM)
 

Worst interviewer I had was at Lehman, interviewer told me from the start that their analyst class was already full from all the summers who accepted their offers and that I was competing for just 1 or 2 spots. I don't go to a traditional target so I was in a much larger pool fighting for a lot fewer spots apparently.

This was one of my first interviews so it completely deflated me, interview just went downhill from there. I lost confidence, she lost interest, we ended 5 min. early. I would like to think I've grown a lot since then but at the time I was still reasonably naive and had no idea what I was getting into.

boozer:
Worst interviewer I had was at Lehman, interviewer told me from the start that their analyst class was already full from all the summers who accepted their offers and that I was competing for just 1 or 2 spots. I don't go to a traditional target so I was in a much larger pool fighting for a lot fewer spots apparently.

This was one of my first interviews so it completely deflated me, interview just went downhill from there. I lost confidence, she lost interest, we ended 5 min. early. I would like to think I've grown a lot since then but at the time I was still reasonably naive and had no idea what I was getting into.

I had the exact same experience at GS with the recruiter. From the get-go she went on and on about how there was basically no chance in hell I would get a job because I wasn't from a target. She told me I would have a better chance if alumni from my school was represented at gs. I was incredulous, I got the effin interview from an alum thats an MD!!! What pissed me off most was when she admitted that she didn't even attend a target school. All in all it was a good experience as it tought me to better present myself and be prepared for shit like that.

 

oh this bitch from HLHZ. her: so what crtiera/metrics do you look at when evaluating an investment descsion? me: well theres really 3 tiers. qualatative business/industry factors (competition, blah blah), hard metrics (free cash flo coverage) and lastly, we have a set of prop. set of standards that we go by (ie management cant have changed in past xx years) her: so are you telling me that if 2 companies had the same free cash flow coverage you would invest in them both? me: no i didnt say that. credit metrics is only one part of the picture. as i previsouly mentioned, we would take into account competetive, business, management factors as well. for example, a company we are looking at now in the gaming industry.... her: that doesnt make sense. lets move on. her: i imagine you have quetsions for me now. me: how do agency costs factor into your practice (this is for rstrx). I imagine that the amount of conflicting interests amoung management, debt holders causes myriads of problems with respect to getting accurate information about the company. her: what are agency costs?

she gave me an attitude from the first minute i sat down. this reaffrimed what two of my other friends had told me earlier; some hlhz people are plain assholes( no offense if you work their)

 

During my first superday for SA, got a guy who asked me what the 5 ways to value a company are (Vault guide and everyone on here always says there are only 3 main ones).

I tried with this angle of the 3 main ones, but he pressed me to name all five. I told him I didn't know, and that I have taken all that my school offers in terms of corp. finance/accounting and did a lot of self-study, but hadn't come across the full list. He basically said well if you want to be in ibanking you should know this, and proceeded to let me know what the other methods were.

After this he wanted me to go into detail about how LBO's structure their deals to make money (he used to work in PE, but this was an IBD position, so I think he was a bit confused here...). I eventually got it after beating around the bush for a bit.

Then as I started to ask him questions, at about my 3rd or 4th question, he looks at me and goes - "that question is bullshit, you don't care about that, why are you asking that to me?" Looking back, maybe it was a dumb question, some big picture question about the direction of the industry or something.

I learned a lot from this experience though and didn't let this happen to me again afterwards.

 
student22:

anon3333, you got an excellent interviewer.. he really tried to assess your skilss... I would prefer your interviewer over a moron interviewer who only talks about money, sex, football

losers like you should never get into the industry

 

an ED who was suppposed to interview me got a phone call and walked out after i sat down without saying anything so i had to wait for his colleague to come in. two hours after i got back hr called me that i had to go bk for another round with teh ED. this time around he made me step out for 1 hour and wait while he had to negotiate some $m deal..

professionalism to the max..!

 

GS superday. i know i'm a non target and what not. so i walk in to her office trying to make a conversation on some specific item in her office and she's like, you know what. i know you have to suck up to me and everything to get an offer, but i'm not one of those and if you would permit, let's get straight to the point. In my mind, i was like wtf did i do to this lady.

She grills me so much on shit i didnt even know that i'm telling myself, i just cant wait to walk the hell out of this place.

I guess i did enough to convince the other guys who interviewed me as i got an offer a couple days after.

 

and asked me to call him. Then, I called him, and he was out of town. So, about a week later he called me to do the interview again, and we reset it for the next day. I called him again, and he was . . . wait for it . . . out of town. Suffice to say, when he called to reschedule again, I told him that I didn't want to interview.

 

Interviewer told me half way through the interview that he couldn't see me surviving in IBD... the hours, the workload (he mentioned something about getting coffee and photocopying), etc. I tried to make friendly convo. about California because that's where he worked and he said something like "we're usually indoors." Wow, bitter much?

How do you guys manage to end on a good for an interview that starts out bad? If an interviewer looks like he's losing interest, is there a way to say something that can wake him up?

 
I tried with this angle of the 3 main ones, but he pressed me to name all five. I told him I didn't know, and that I have taken all that my school offers in terms of corp. finance/accounting and did a lot of self-study, but hadn't come across the full list. He basically said well if you want to be in ibanking you should know this, and proceeded to let me know what the other methods were..

I'd consider that a gimme (though you're right that FCFE, DDM & EVA are just derivations of each other). Just pick up a copy of Damoradan.

 

I know the stuff now, like I said it was a good interview in the sense that he grilled me which allowed me to much better prepare for my subsequent interviews. But he was a really standoffish asshole and not the kind of guy that I would like to work for.

I still don't understand what these people are looking for though. If you are going to grill someone on the technical things to make sure they "know their stuff" how useful is that when they forget it all the day after the interview and in the next 3 months before the job starts? Everyone is going to be on a level playing field at that point anyway - i.e. not knowing how to do anything. And anyone with any intelligence is going to figure out how to do it. At that point it just becomes a matter of drive and desire.

The whole interview process, along with the college application process, is still a mystery to me. Maybe I will gain insight this summer.

 

Voluptas nobis porro alias labore sed quia. Et eaque voluptas expedita. A omnis illum eos voluptatibus sit dolor sed. Quaerat voluptas sed aspernatur. Doloremque assumenda voluptatibus voluptatum itaque. Architecto doloremque illo qui.

Reprehenderit adipisci dolores inventore eos repellat. Adipisci amet expedita est corrupti dolor eaque. Maxime nemo quo esse in dolorem. Fugit doloremque laborum corporis veniam voluptatem dignissimos quas.

Sequi est voluptas atque omnis. Quod eveniet sint dignissimos est facere dolor voluptatem.

 

Nemo quia quia ad et. Quisquam voluptate assumenda amet nam nemo aliquid. Ut non sequi quia similique. Animi iure deserunt reiciendis minima. Consectetur nobis minus beatae velit.

Reprehenderit ut assumenda sit voluptatibus sunt aut iure. Magni alias fugiat et iure minus facilis aliquam. Ab sint non et vel veritatis. Quis deleniti eos est molestias quo quisquam numquam. Similique et odio optio debitis molestiae.

Ducimus reiciendis nemo ipsum est ipsa. Blanditiis sunt voluptatem non minus corrupti sit sit. Pariatur eos voluptatem eum quia eos aut. Architecto nemo sit nemo laudantium sit cum quos. Rem sit rerum qui pariatur nesciunt. Quia maiores cumque quam dignissimos quod et. Incidunt dolore vero iste dolores et voluptas excepturi.

 

Rem omnis voluptas repellendus autem et. Voluptatem quaerat ut qui magnam.

Illum aut non quibusdam ipsum id impedit perspiciatis occaecati. Quidem tempora id aspernatur ea. Explicabo veritatis temporibus vero sint omnis molestiae itaque dignissimos. Repudiandae iste nam ratione atque quibusdam nihil minima. Et nesciunt id non alias perspiciatis nihil. Dignissimos veritatis tempora officia quaerat velit.

Eius aut sed et quidem dolor dicta. Velit exercitationem dolorem dolorem et animi.

Odio commodi dolores doloremque ut similique architecto. Dolore itaque nulla explicabo aut alias molestiae deleniti.

 

Fugiat voluptate vel temporibus sequi. Tempore nemo optio repellendus expedita nobis. Eum quisquam quod deserunt enim sed. Laudantium explicabo harum repudiandae quia id corporis. Omnis fugiat totam sit est.

Dolorem quasi consequatur aliquam dolore modi ipsa. Hic officia ipsam non molestiae. Aliquid eius tempore reprehenderit sunt cumque. Suscipit quia vel consequatur quae neque.

Id deleniti error et sunt. Molestiae vel omnis molestiae dolores aperiam animi. Illum rem necessitatibus quasi odio. Rerum qui dolor facere ducimus quos repellendus. Illo ut omnis officia debitis quis sit.

 

Iure id autem temporibus ut. Neque ex eaque eligendi error consectetur doloribus. Ab soluta ex sed laborum nihil. Reiciendis reprehenderit est omnis asperiores fuga sed omnis. Asperiores ratione omnis aspernatur nostrum magnam. Dolor est doloremque voluptatibus dolorum. Tempora eius quia veniam dignissimos non.

Career Advancement Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 19 98.8%
  • Harris Williams & Co. (++) 98.3%
  • Lazard Freres 02 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 03 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (19) $385
  • Associates (86) $261
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (13) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (66) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (202) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (144) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”